Owen von Ismay
Visconte Owen von Ismay, sometimes known under the nom de guerre Raider Aspect, is a controversial galactic figure. A former High Ambassador of the New Republic his career there came to a sudden end amidst dramatic accusations that he was a traitor and Shadow Vigo of the Black Sun. During his varied career with the Galactic Empire, New Anzat Order, Trade Federation and New Republic he has served as a military commander, intelligence officer, special forces operative, politician and businessman. Formerly an enthusiastic and vocal supporter of the Galactic Empire and it's New Order, Ismay later became one of the most strident advocates of its destruction. Despite this his tenure as Regent of the New Anzat Order was marked by accusation of establishing a dictatorship; some have suggested that his dispute with the Galactic Empire is a matter of personnel rather than policy. One of the numerous illegitimate offspring of Imperial Moff, Count Victor von Ismay XVI, much of Ismay's professional life has been marked by collaboration with his now deceased half-brother Wilhelm von Ismay. The pair feuded over control of the New Anzat Order, leading to Owen leaving the government and eventually join the New Republic. Life Youth Born on Corsin, Owen von Ismay was given up for adoption almost immediately after his birth. His father was Count Victor von Ismay XVI, a young and already married Coruscani playboy who would later become a senior official in the Galactic Empire. A standard background check on Victor carried out by Imperial Intelligence during his ascent to power would reveal he fathered a child with a Corsini woman named Kate Elden, but evidence suggested Victor was unaware of this. The background check, which revealed little of any real interest to those who had ordered it, was placed in the Imperial archives and promptly forgotten about. The rest of the Owen von Ismay's early life passed largely without incident. At school he was intelligent but lacked motivation and a loner but not really unpopular. At home he was vaguely unhappy for reasons that eluded him. His adoptive family tried their best with little success, but resisted the temptation to inform Owen that he was not their natural son until he was eighteen. His response was scarcely positive; feeling betrayed and lied too, in a fit of teenage rage Owen declared he would never return. With minimal prospects and no real direction in his life, he choose to enlist in the Imperial Army, knowing it would at least get him away from Corsin. With a somewhat melodramatic touch he enlisted under the alias Raider Aspect, severing his ties to Corsin for good. Soldier The Galactic Empire though, was not the monolithic and stable entity portrayed in the COMPNOR propaganda that Raider Aspect was familiar with. Tension within Imperial High Command due to the merger between Emperor Charon's Galactic Empire and the Dark Empire of Lord Vodo Bonias had become violent. On the day of Aspect's enlistment, Emperor Charon fell under mysterious circumstances, being replaced by Executor Greyson Uebles, an associate of Vodo Bonias. Those loyal to Charon defected in droves, stripping the Empire of personnel at every level. Due to the lack of trainers, the Imperial Academy was temporarily shut down and Aspect assigned to the Imperial Army's Executive Officer, Colonel Locke, for training. When he performed well in the initial, disorganized training progamme put together by Locke, it was decided the half trained Recruit Aspect would be assigned to one of the Empire's now badly understrength Battalions, the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Assault Regiment. Major Alvaro served as Battalion Commanding Officer, while First Lieutenant Ral Hoffner, who would soon return to the Navy was his first Battalion Executive Officer. But the member of the Battalion who would have the most profound effect on Aspect was one of the Company Commanders, Sergeant First Class Joshua Chamberlain. Despite his assignment to a Battalion, Aspect remained a Recruit for several months, during which two Army Chief of Staff came and went without him noticing. Only when the Imperial Army organised an interim Training Programme did he get the opportunity to advance. He became the first Recruit to take the test and achieved a perfect score. Due to this he was promoted directly to Sergeant. Mildly shocked to find a career that both inspired him and that he was good at, Raider Aspect threw himself into the Imperial Army. When he joined he had paid little attention to the Imperial Ideology and aspired to nothing more than getting off Corsin, yet a few months in, Aspect absorbed the beliefs and goals of the New Order with all the fervour of the newly converted. With the formation of the Army Staff, Aspect received the post of Army Operations Officer and promotion to Sergeant First Class; whilst less powerful than the title suggested it was nevertheless a large step. Nevertheless, the Imperial Army, always the less favoured service, had been hit deeply by the Charonist defections. Just as it was beginning to recover Colonel Magnus Locke resigned, leaving the Army in turmoil as both his Executive Officer and the Army Command and Coordination Officer were on leave. Into the breach stepped Second Lieutenant Durand, architect of the Army Staff. Assuring a number of other soldiers that he was the senior member of the Army Staff and thus acting Army Chief of Staff, Durand took control. Glad to have someone who seemed to know what was going on, by now First Lieutenant Chamberlain and Aspect backed Durand, a decision that would later prove to be a wise career move. Aspect was given a brevet promotion to Second Lieutenant and to his continued amazement, technically served as acting Army Executive Officer for a period of about eighteen hours. Due to the confusion and constantly changing situation, Aspect also made a mistake that would come back to bite him; Durand informed Aspect he would be promoted to the same rank as Durand "Lieutenant". Believing Durand to be a First Lieutenant, he took on that rank instead of Second Lieutenant. The actions of Durand, although practically amounting to a coup, were retrospectively approved by Grand Admiral Black Lodge as Durand was appointed Army Chief of Staff and promoted to Brigadier General. Following the reorganization of the Imperial Army, Aspect was rewarded with command of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment, which he was instructed to turn into the Army's Special Forces unit. Liasing with Imperial Intelligence, he was instructed to work with Bureau Chief Wilhelm von Ismay. Contact with Wihelm introduced Aspect to the wider historical and political situation within the Galactic Empire and also stimulated a curiosity about intelligence agencies. Aspect's promising career in the Army was nearly derailed when, hungover after drinking with a number of other officers he responded unpleasantly to a standard request by Captain Chamberlain. Although the pair sorted the issue out swiftly, the message nevertheless resulted in a court-martial of Aspect for Conduct Unbecoming an Officer. Furthermore the message brought to attention that he was claiming the rank of First Lieutenant, leading to an addition charge of Impersonating an Officer. On the question of conduct unbecoming, Aspect unsuccessfully argued that it was a private matter between brother officers. On the question of impersonating an officer though, while realizing his mistake, Aspect was too vain to admit to it. Instead he lied, claiming he had been promoted to First Lieutenant by Colonel Evar Derricote during his brief period as acting Army Chief of Staff. Derricote had in fact made Aspect's brevet promotion to "Lieutenant" a permanent one; whether he meant First or Second Lieutenant is ambiguous. Although found not guilty of impersonating an officer, he was found guilty of conduct unbecoming and demoted from First Lieutenant to Second Lieutenant. Brigadier General Durand would later admit he never officially reported the court-martial. Aspect was soon promoted back to the rank of First Lieutenant. Beta The Galactic Empire, recovering from the Charonist defections began planning it's revenge for the loss of the Imperial Star Destroyer IMS Shadowstone. The target chosen was the hidden system of Beta. Along with a considerable portion of the Imperial Army, including Brigadier General Durand, Major Tyr DeMeer, Major Joshua Chamberlain, Raider Aspect boarded the Victory Star Destroyer IMS Widowmaker. Although largely unaware of their target and mission, he contributed significantly to organizing the Army's embarkment and preparations. Beta was formidably defended; most notably by the massive spacestation Libra. Furthermore, no less than four shield projectors were devoted to providing extra protection for the Libra, while numerous shield generators made the primary planet, Ul Yanin, difficult to assault. In response, the Galactic Empire intended to use it's numerous Sith to full advantage. With Darth Knyte, Vodo Bonias and Emperor Greyson Uebles all present, the Emperor and his advisors chose to Force Wormhole a mixed group of Army Personnel and Sith onto the surface of Ul Yanin to disable to generators and projectors, making the Libra vulnerable and allowing the Army to land a massive force on the planet itself. The four Sith selected for the operation were Knyte, Thraken Solo, Blackthorne and Sedulus, while the Imperial Army contributed Brigadier General Durand, Lieutenant Colonel Tyr DeMeer and Raider Aspect. Shortly before the Imperial Fleet emerged from hyperspace, Aspect was promoted to Captain for his service to the Army; and possibly in anticipation that he might not come back alive. Unsure whether to be excited or terrified, he slipped onto the Bridge of the Widowmaker to watch them leave hyperspace before returning to his quarters for a last minute equipment check. Alone amongst the assault force he had never seen combat. Talented but untested, Aspect's arrogance began to seep away, swiftly replaced by fear. Assembling their strike team, the Sith used the Force Wormholes almost immediately. Aspect remembered little more than flashing lights, then being on his hands and knees in the mud of Ul Yanin, retching. (To be completed) Commander Returning to the Galactic Empire as a conquering hero, Raider was convinced he had found his place in the Galaxy. In addition to his other duties, he was appointed Deputy Commander of Home Defence, guarding Coruscant. The favourite protege of Brigadier General Durand, his ascent to Army High Command and eventually to the post of Army Chief of Staff was all but assured. His ambitions began to grow beyond the constraints of the Imperial Army, as Raider started to imagine himself becoming the first Army officer since Connel to ascend to the Imperial Throne. Meanwhile, the Imperial Army, and indeed, the entire Empire thrived in the glow of the victory at Beta. The resignation of Brigadier General Durand after disputes with the rest of Imperial High Command put something of a shadow over events, but Raider came to terms with it soon enough. Durand's Executive Officer and successor, Brigadier General Ragnar Drakken, suggested that as the senior member of the Army Staff, Raider should be promoted to Army High Command. Despite the temptation to take the apppointment, he pointed out that Major Chamberlain was in fact the senior member. Although not appointed to Army High Command, Raider still recieved a promotion to Major and took on the role of liason with the Imperial Security Bureau. A few month later, Colonel Tyr DeMeer retired to pursue his heritage. Chamberlain was promoted to Army Executive Officer and Raider took on the role of Army Command and Coordination Officer. Subsequently the 1st Regiment of the Imperial Army was deployed to Tatooine under the banner Operation Sandstorm. Brigadier General Drakken took personal command of the occupation of his homeworld, with Raider serving as his second in command. Opposition from the Black Sun melted away, content to wait out the Imperial warmachine. The deployment of the Imperial Army was badly hampered by the Imperial Navy's refusal to release much needed assets, leading to some inventive logistical thinking by then Second Lieutenant Jacen Boshuu, the Army Staff's Communication Officer. During the deployment on Tatooine, events in the upper reaches of the Galactic Empire reverberated. While inspecting the Army's deployments, Grand Admiral Black Lodge, the Military Chief of Staff, spoke frankly to the young Major. Admitting he was being forced out of the Imperial leadership, the Grand Admiral warned that the Sith Lord Vodo Bonias was interested only in his own power, not the Empire's wellbeing. A few days later, the Grand Admiral announced his resignation, a broken man. Emperor Uebles immediately announced the resignation of Executor Jennifer Dreighton and her replacement by Vodo Bonias. Imperial triumphalism came to it's climax with the celebrations of the first anniversary of Emperor Uebles' ascent to the Throne, coincidently also the first anniversary of Raider joining the Empire. Shortly before the beginning of the official celebrations, Major Raider Aspect was shocked to be personally awarded his 1 Year Duty Bar by the Emperor. It later emerged the ceremony had been arranged by First Lieutenant Boshuu; having had his request refused by the bureaucracy, Boshuu had personally gone to the Imperial Throne. As an additional mark of Imperial favour, during the official celebration, Raider was asked by the Emperor to look after a female foreign dignitary. Life seemed like it could not get any better. Less than three months later, Greyson Uebles was gone; victim of a force experiment gone wrong. Vodo Bonias returned to the throne he had given up so many years ago. A number of officers resigned or defected, among them Vizier Wilhelm von Ismay, Raider's friend. Although sad for the fate of Uebles, disappointed by the resignation of his friend and wary of the new ruler due to the Grand Admiral's warnings, Raider, along with the rest of the Imperial Army, remained within the Empire. Shortly before Uebles' disappearance, Chamberlain and Raider had been promoted to Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel respectively. Although the promotions were welcome, the pair had grown increasingly disillusioned with Major General Drakken's leadership of the Army. At the same meeting, Jacen Boshuu was transferred to Army High Command as a liason officer. Privately, Raider was slightly jealous at Boshuu's rise, feeling he had been replaced as the Army's "star", but the two worked well together and soon became friends. Together with Chamberlain, Boshuu and several other senior officers, Raider began plotting to push Drakken out of Army Command. Matters boiled over at a metting between the Emperor, Vice Admiral Zerk and a council of the Army's senior officers. Vodo announced a radical reorganisation of the Imperial Army, without any consultation with the Army Command. Raider viewed the decision as a precusor for establishing Naval control over the Army. Zerk was disliked and distrusted by the Army's leadership and the fact that he had been involved in the decision whilst Drakken had been sidelined was considered ominious. Losing his temper, Raider launched a strident attack on the Emperor's plan and also attempt to move against Major General Drakken. Seeing themselves as under external attack though, the rest of the Army's senior officers rallied around Drakken. Storming out of the meeting, Raider toyed with resigning, but ultimately stayed. Despite being nearly arrested for insubordination, no real action was taken against him. Under the new organisation the Imperial Army was split into numerous small units and spread across different fleets and garrisons. Morale plummeted and resignations piled up. Director Leaving the Empire Consul Chancellor Regent Under siege Trade Federation and Exile Return to Anzat The New Republic Long Road to Republica Shadows Blood is thicker than water Family See also House Ismay As one of the numerous illegitimate offspring of Victor von Ismay, Owen has numerous half-siblings (some of them deceased), most notably Wilhelm and Asarya. He remains on friendly terms with Asarya and most of his other half-siblings, although they are not close. With his eldest sibling, Wilhelm, Owen has ranged between near hero worship and absolute contempt. Wilhelm was the only one of his sibling who had known Owen before the discovery of his origins. The two fell out badly during Owen's Regency of the New Anzat Order, both feeling betrayed. It was nearly a year before Wilhelm attempted to reconcile with his younger brother. Despite Owen initial reservations about Wilhelm's sincerity, the two are once again became friends. The process was aided by Wilhelm's relationship with and subsequent marriage to Keishi Miahr, a friend of Owen's; he served as best man at the wedding. Presently he is married to Caitiri Ja`Brai, a former President of Triton Dynamics and Cerebus Corporation. Owen has three children from his previous relationships and two on the way. Raina von Ismay, his eldest child, is the daughter of Owen's Twi`lek ex-wife Jarina. His second child, Aiden, is the son of former fiancee` Natalya Kriega. A long term relationship with Sasha Striker produced his youngest, Lucas. During his Imperial carrer, Owen adopted Deana, the sixteen year old younger sister of an ex-girlfriend. This was initially for purely legal reasons, to provide her with a legal guardian, but he latter developed a paternal relationship with Deana and was deeply hurt by her death. Career Summary Chronical order Galactic Empire *Various junior posts *Imperial Army Executive Officer (Colonel) *Director of Imperial Intelligence (Chief) *Deputy Director of Imperial Intelligence (Plexus Attache) and Imperial Army Executive Officer (Lieutenant Colonel) *Imperial Army Chief of Staff (Colonel) New Anzat Order *Consul *Chancellor and Head of Government *Regent and Head of State *Military Executive Officer (Grand Admiral) Trade Federation *Advisor to the Minister of Defence (Centurion) New Republic *Supply Manager, Riviera Ship Shop *Chief Executive, Riviera Ship Shop *Associate Minister for Shipbuilding *Speaker of the Senate *High Ambassador Category:Individuals Category:Human